Below, I have taken some screenshots of my background progress. Whilst designing my background, I found it relatively difficult to keep the layers separate (e.g. objects belonging to the foreground, midground and background). As I plan to bring this file into after effects, I do need to be prepared to move these sections at different paces- this would make the scene more realistic and dynamic as the character progresses through the scene. As I initially forgot about this, some of my layers are disorganized, so this may be something that could be a bit of trouble when I’m transferring everything over.
Adding colour and texture to line art
Adding colours for foreground objects
Finalizing colours
Overlay
Using Parallax techniques to move my background
When I move this file into Adobe After Effects, my plan is to attempt to make the scene move along with the character, but at different paces. Moreover, to do this, I have begun researching into the Parallax technique! Below are some tutorials I have looked into…
This one, I found was too complicated for me as a beginner as it went into depth on how to use cameras. This is something that I haven’t got acquainted with enough to understand. Not only that, but the tutorial itself was explained too quickly for me to understand what was happening. Ultimately, I don’t think I will be using this video or technique due to it being too advanced for my level at the moment. However, it was really interesting to see the alternative way that this effect can be achieved.
I feel that by comparison, this video does the best job of explaining how to make a simple parallax effect. As I am very new to all of these programs (After Effects, especially), I feel that this one might be the best to follow along. Although it does go through these processes very simply, I do think that for me, it is a little too fast in execution and because of this, I may need to watch this tutorial a few times so I can get the hang of it.
Background timing plan
Below is a rough plan for how I may divide the timings for my background. The foreground will generally move slower than the background layers as this is the one closer to the camera. Moreover, the character will be running, but not sprinting, so the foreground itself will be relatively in the middle in terms of speed. So far, this rough estimate allows me to keep on track how fast each layer moves amongst one another. Whilst putting this to practice, I will use this diagram to remind me how I will do this.
